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Fire Grate on a large

Been trying to improve air flow and have pondered the turbo grate $$$$ and I had heard somewhere about using 3 carriage bolt legs to raise the fire grate about a 1/4 inch or so, would help. Anyone else?

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Comments

Talking about airflow,,,,,, I saw a brand new Large a few days ago that had larger holes in the daisy wheel than my 2 year old did.
I dont think it makes much difference as you learn your eggs characteristics, but thought it interesting.

Sounds like ash buildup. A better job stirring/cleaning prior to firing it up will help a lot. Also a wiggle stick will take care of any other air issues you have. Simply a long skinny "L" shaped poker to clear the fire grate air holes once the fire has been burning a while. It will amaze you if you haven't used one.

Adam is correct.
Before you start your fire stir up your lump so excess ash goes to the bottom of the ash pit and make sure your holes fire grate and firebox are not clogged with small pieces of lump.Try to put the big pieces of lump on the bottom and the small ones on top.Use your wiggle rod during the cook to keep things clear.
Jon

If you have a stainless steel vertical chicken roaster, try placing it on top of the fire grate before loading in the charcoal. This will vastly improve airflow by leaving an open space up the middle of the lump. I've been using this technique for my last 20 cooks or so and it works great.

I have that this method works well as opposed to the long carriage bolts.It is much easier to get the opening that you want plus you don't have to worry when you use a wiggle stick to clear out the holes.Hope this helps.By moving the washer in or out will determine how much of a opening you want.I adjust mine till there is about a 1/8 inch gap all around.

This set up will give you more air flow but a wiggle rod will still have to be used once in a while depending on any ash build up.This past week was the first time that I have ever used Royal Oak from South America and the was a considerable amount of ash that I did not expect.When the temperature started to drop is when I discovered the problem.Ash build up after five hours of cooking.

I understand I will still have to use a wiggle rod for the long cooks. All I use is Ozark Oak (have a inside source) so very little ash build up. Just trying to twik it a bit, keep it simple. Thanks again!!

I clean out my eggs completely and shop vac them after each cook and have ever had an air flo problem. Keep doing it PP79. I used some stainless bolts on the fire grate on my small an raised it approx 3/8". Increased air flo tremendously which led to real sensitivity when adjusting temp.